In 2001 Emory University was given the papers of African American composer, arranger, and conductor William Levi Dawson. The 119 boxes of the William Levi Dawson papers are an extraordinary addition to the substantial and growing African American research collections housed in Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL).

MARBL has come to be recognized as one of the leading repositories among major research universities for its African American collections. These focus on black print culture, expatriate African American literary and cultural figures, 20th century African American arts and letters, African American radicalism, and holdings related to the Civil Rights and post-Civil Rights movements.